19th May

On this day in 1991, the British Championship at Buxton ended in spectacular and bizarre circumstances. As the race had developed, NI 26 Will McGaffin had continued to chase race leader 218 Rob Speak, who was racing with his left ankle in a plaster cast. As the leaders tore down the back straight in the closing stages, they encountered a crash involving backmarkers 64 John Fortune and 701 John Thompson. Rob got caught up, and although Will lost his aerofoil in the incident, he was still circulating when red flags were called. With Rob classified as one of the causes of the stoppage, Northern Ireland star Will was duly crowned the winner, and proudly wore the black and white chequers for the next twelve months.